One in Three.

A U.S. soldier in Zabul province, Afghanistan / Air Force photo by Brian Ferguson

Thirty-four percent, to be precise. That’s how many veterans believe the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were worth fighting, according to a new and dispiriting – but not surprising – Pew Research Center poll. Americans prefer wars like the first Gulf War – 100 days of bombing, followed by 96 hours of ground combat, then a victory parade in D.C. — not wars like Afghanistan: 100 hours of bombing, followed by 10 years on the ground, and counting. The poll failed to figure out why the nation’s leaders don’t grasp this fact.